5 reasons why Alex Pereira will not repeat Israel Adesanya's success in the UFC

Few fighters ranked outside the top 15 in their UFC division have generated as much hype as Alex Pereira. A combat sports veteran with over 40 fights to his name, Pereira is a former kickboxing world champion now taking aim at an MMA title.

While he is not kickboxing's first export to MMA, his two kickboxing wins over current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya have garnered far more attention than others who transitioned into mixed martial arts.

Thus, both the fans and the UFC's interest in a trilogy rematch between Pereira and Adesanya shone a spotlight on the Brazilian phenom. However, due to the breadth of striking skill Pereira possesses, he might not meet the expectations many have of him.

While both he and Adesanya stem from the same kickboxing world, key differences in the subtleties of their respective striking styles might prevent Alex Pereira from replicating his rival's MMA success. This list explores those reasons in detail.

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#5. Alex Pereira is more hittable

Many fighters have signature techniques. Conor McGregor has his straight left, Daniel Cormier is well-known for his high-crotch single-leg takedown, while Luke Rockhold uses a question mark kick. In a similar vein, Alex Pereira's signature technique is his lead left hook.

Often-times, the left hook is a knockout blow. Although it enables fighters to consistently hurt their opponents, left hooks are not without risk.

First, to be in position to land a left hook, fighters must also be willing to put themselves in position to be countered by their opponent's left hook. The short arc of the punch means Pereira is always in position to be caught with a counter-left hook when attempting to land his own.

For this reason, Alex Pereira is likelier to sustain more damage in his MMA career than Adesanya because his striking style renders him more hittable.

#4. He is more vulnerable to wrestling

While Alex Pereira's heavy reliance on his lead left hook makes him more hittable compared to Adesanya, it also makes him more susceptible to takedowns.

To land his preferred punch, Pereira must first square his hips before twisting his torso into his left hook. Unfortunately, the squaring of his hips means that they're exposed and in prime position to be targeted for takedowns.

The resulting risk is that an elite wrestler might be able to step into range to draw out Pereira's left hook, then duck under the punch for a takedown on his exposed hips.

Many will be reluctant to strike against Alex Pereira. If his kickboxing style makes it easier for opponents to avoid engaging him in the stand-up phase by timing their takedowns, his foes will certainly do so, especially considering Pereira's relative rawness on the ground.

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#3. Pereira's defensive footwork

One of Pereira's defining traits is his monstrous knockout power. His nickname 'Poatan' translates to 'Stone Hand' and this fearsome ability to end his opponents is often what allows Pereira to dictate the pace of his bouts.

A high-percentage risk of suffering a knockout can render fighters not only tentative when engaging their opponents, but it may even cause them to deviate from their primary style. A classic case was Ryan Bader's wariness against Anthony Johnson.

Although Bader sought to use his wrestling to neutralize Johnson's power-punching, his fear of Johnson's power caused him to panic and shoot for takedowns out of range, rendering his takedowns easy for Johnson to defend.

Similarly, opponents who strike with Pereira are often so fearful of his power that they allow him to lead the fight and dictate its pace. However, whenever Pereira is not allowed to pressure his opponent, a chink in his armor is revealed. When Pereira himself is pressured, he moves linearly, retreating in a straight line. This makes it easy for him to get backed up to the fence.

An opponent interested in implementing a wrestling gameplan against him can opt to back him up to the cage, where Alex Pereira does not flatten out his stance to shuffle from side to side and circle back into open space.

As the current wrestling approach in MMA is to use the cage to facilitate takedowns, an opponent with a wrestling-heavy gameplan may cause problems for Pereira.

#2. Adesanya's style is better suited for MMA

Alex Pereira's style is, for the aforementioned reasons, riddled with more risks than Adesanya's. While it makes the Brazilian a more successful knockout artist, it also exposes him to more threats.

Adesanya, by contrast, has an elusive style that did not require as many adjustments as Pereira's might.

At 6 feet 4 inches tall with an 80 inch reach, Adesanya is taller and longer than virtually everyone in the middleweight division. He uses this length and reach to force opponents into overextending.

He pulls back at the waist to lean away from punches and kicks, using a pull-counter left hook to intercept his opponent as they come in. This causes Adesanya's opponents to miss a disproportionate amount of punches and kicks aimed at his head, frustrating them into fixating more on landing on his head instead of his body and legs. That makes them miss even more, while rendering him less hittable.

Furthermore, Adesanya's preference for fighting from long range on the outside makes it difficult for wrestlers to shoot in on his hips as they must cover a longer distance than they're accustomed to.

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#1. Pereira is being fast-tracked

Israel Adesanya was 11-0 before joining the UFC. Alex Pereira, on the other hand, signed with the promotion after only four fights.

Now that he's a 6-1 fighter, there are already plans for Pereira to face Adesanya for the middleweight championship if he can defeat Sean Strickland in their upcoming UFC 276 bout.

Pereira has not been given enough time to adjust properly to MMA. With only six MMA wins, he is still new to the sport. This inexperience will lead to what will likely be a tougher career now that he'll be facing stiffer competition.